FirstBest Announces Front Office Suite for Insurance

FirstBest® Systems, Inc., provider of insurance software solutions that help commercial- and specialty-lines insurance carriers drive premium growth, scale their business and achieve high service levels with agents, has announced its next-generation software suite, the FirstBest Front Office Suite™. The Suite brings together agents and underwriters in a collaborative underwriting process that helps them to rapidly quote and close business. It enables carriers and their distribution channels to increase efficiencies, grow their books of business and cast a wider net to bring in new business.

“With the Suite’s modular applications, shared Web services, and proven deployment methodology, FirstBest and our partners can rapidly deploy the Suite at a much lower TCO.” “In today’s challenging environment, insurers are demanding a new approach that not only increases efficiency for the carrier, but also creates a stronger connection with the distribution channel in a way that’s optimal for both,” said John Belizaire, co-founder and CEO of FirstBest Systems, Inc. “Insurers want to go beyond the back office to drive greater revenue from the distribution channel. The only way to do that is to weave a seamless collaborative process from agent to underwriting to back-end systems. We know of only one solution that delivers on this promise, and that is the FirstBest Front Office Suite.”

The FirstBest Front Office Suite brings agents, brokers, MGAs, MGUs, and underwriters together in a collaborative underwriting process that incorporates business rules, collaboration and knowledge management tools, activities, predictive analytics, and all of the information needed to rapidly submit, evaluate, quote and close business. In addition, the applications enable carriers to:

•Increase efficiency – With straight-through processing (STP), automated workflow, business rules and more.

•Become the “carrier of choice” – And grow the book of business by providing agents with true ease of doing business (EODB), faster and more efficient quoting, and real-time collaboration between agents, brokers, MGAs, MGUs, and underwriters.

•Cast a wider net and bring in new business – By broadening market appeal and supporting different distribution and process models for different market segments (e.g., STP for lower-margin business).

•Lower the loss ratio with greater underwriting discipline – Foster underwriting discipline and best practices by automating underwriting rules, workflows, letters of authority, and referrals to streamline and drive consistency throughout the process.

•Scale the business with greater agility – Increase business without a corresponding increase in expense, bring products to market faster and gain real-time visibility.

Built on a modern architecture with common Web services, security, workflows, and integration toolkit, the modular applications of the FirstBest Front Office Suite work together seamlessly, enabling rapid deployment in different configurations. Carriers can pick and choose the Suite’s applications with the peace of mind that they work together today and in the future, as additional capabilities are required. “We’ve designed the new FirstBest Front Office Suite to meet and exceed the needs of carriers and agents,” said Joseph Pilkerton, co-founder and COO of FirstBest Systems, Inc. “With the Suite’s modular applications, shared Web services, and proven deployment methodology, FirstBest and our partners can rapidly deploy the Suite at a much lower TCO.”

The Suite includes three collaborative underwriting applications:

•FirstBest Underwriting Management System (UMS)™ – FirstBest’s flagship solution combines a next-generation underwriting workstation and a business analyst workstation with a Web 2.0 agent portal for comprehensive underwriting workflow and real-time carrier-agency collaboration.

•FirstBest Agent™ – A complete transactional agent portal that facilitates new business and renewals, and provides rich functionality for increased carrier-agency communication, including dynamic supplemental data, shared documents, notes, and email notifications.

•FirstBest AppReader™ – An agency connectivity application for agent and underwriter form/image conversion to ACORD XML and instant upload to carrier systems, regardless of agency management system, and without proprietary networks or transaction fees.